INTERVIEW-Olympics-Spain recession will not affect Madrid 2020 bid

BERLIN, May 9 (Reuters) - Madrid will not pull out of thebidding process for the 2020 Olympics despite Spain tipping intorecession late last month, a senior bid official said onTuesday.

Spain is under intense pressure from its European peers tostreamline the euro zone's fourth largest economy, reduce a hugepublic deficit and fix a banking system battered by a four-yeareconomic slump and a burst property bubble.

Italian capital Rome had also started bidding for the 2020Olympics before their government pulled the plug on thecandidacy in February, saying it could not provide financialguarantees as they worked towards heading off their own debtcrisis.

Following Rome's surprise withdrawal there have beenconcerns that Madrid's bid could also be affected by the debtcrisis in Spain, where the economy slipped into recession in thefirst quarter in late April.

"Madrid has absolutely no intention of backing out ofbidding for the Games. This is not going to be Rome II," thebid's CEO of international relations Theresa Zabell told Reutersin an interview. "We will be in Buenos Aires next year with astrong bid."

The International Olympic Committee will elect the winningbid for the world's biggest multi-sports extravaganza inSeptember 2013 in Argentina, with Istanbul, Azeri capital Baku,Qatar's Doha and Tokyo also in the running.

Madrid is bidding for the third consecutive time afterlosing out to London for the 2012 Games and Rio de Janeiro for2016.

"The economic situation is an extra item that did not existin the last bids," said Zabell, a winner of two Olympic sailinggold medals. "Bidding for the Olympic Games is not a cost. It isan investment in our country. Not only in material but also inmorale."

"NEED THE GAMES"

Madrid's bid has all but six venues already in place, buthas decided to shift the focus from past bids on to the Games'sporting aspect.

Spanish athletes have enjoyed massive successinternationally in recent years, especially the national soccerand basketball teams, with the country's tennis players alsolifting several titles.

Madrid is also keen to push their capabilities as hosts andpoint to the fact that in the last ten years the city has playedhost to 85 European championships and 77 world championships.

"Few cities can boast of holding so many internationalevents of such a large category," she said.

In the coming two years the Spanish capital will host sixmore world championships for Olympic sports.

"We really need the Games. We have a high percent ofunemployment and we need the Games to get the country moving,"Zabell said.

"Unemployment for people under 25 years is very high andthey are the best qualified generation of people we have in thehistory of Spain and we need to give them their first jobopportunity. There is no better force to change than the Games."

Zabell said Madrid's bid was also the only one from theheart of Europe and would provide a safe return after the firstSouth American Games in 2016.

"New countries are trying to bid for the Games thattraditionally did not bid before," said Zabell.

"But I personally don't think the Olympic Games can go fromnew countries (Brazil in 2016) to new countries. They have tocome back to countries where they know the Games will be aquality experience."